Nov. 7. By Dave Vieser. Port City Club, the well-known lakeside eatery opened by Nick Lyssikatos 10 years ago, is reopening as Lake House Wine Bar & Grill.
Crews were busy changing signs on Wednesday afternoon while interior renovations continued.
Port City soon became a fixture in the Lake Norman dining scene after it opened in 2013.
Background
The 13,500 square foot space was and still is one of the largest restaurants in Mecklenburg County.
It was formerly the home of Midtown Sundries and Latitude 36, both of which closed.
Its size is overwhelming to most restaurateurs: It had sat empty and forlorn for a year before Lyssikatos opened Port City.
In April 2023, celebrity chef David Burke took over the day-to-day operations at Port City, while Lyssikatos concentrated on his other restaurant, Brickhouse Tavern in Davidson.
Details
18665 Harborside. Open daily for lunch and dinner, with small bites, steak, seafood, house-made pasta, desserts
So sad. It made all of the customers feel exclusive saying, I am going to the “club.” Well hopefully, the new place will be of the same quality in customer service and food.
Posted by Reta Berman | November 7, 2024, 11:22 amWho is replacing David Burke?
Posted by Concerned Citizen | November 7, 2024, 11:51 amLive music please and maybe I’ll come back. Left after latitude closed.
Posted by Andrew Cecil | November 7, 2024, 11:53 amI wonder if the menu will stay the same!
Posted by Lori Owens | November 7, 2024, 12:20 pmI say good riddance to Port City. we loved the place until David Burke took over. The food quality and menu choice went way down hill and we took Port City off our lake front restaurants to take guests by boat.
Posted by Lou Amico | November 7, 2024, 2:20 pmWill Port City gift cards still be honored?
Posted by Jan | November 7, 2024, 4:56 pmI hope they figure out their service. Place is great but service takes forever!!! Even when it’s not busy. Kitchen is too small for the space.
Posted by Karen spehar | November 7, 2024, 6:57 pmAnything Burke Burke does ends up closing. Worst excuse for a Restaurant company in the market.
Posted by gp | November 7, 2024, 9:27 pmDido !!! Use to go on the boat once or twice a month
Posted by Tim George | November 9, 2024, 11:35 amAnything David Burke does ends up closing. Worst excuse for a Restaurant company in the market.
Posted by gp | November 7, 2024, 9:28 pmGP. I have to agree with you.
To my knowledge Burke has opened and closed at least 2 restaurants in Charlotte. Now Port City Club is added to the list of failures. The Davidson IceHouse / Hot Mess on S Main St was supposed to be his next venture with the Famous Toastery guys as partners. That has never happened. Vacant for at least a year. I am guessing GOAT Pizza will survive for a while.
He seems to have a reverse Midas touch.
Posted by Nick | November 11, 2024, 12:21 pmOpen a capital grill at that location and watch it blow up!
Posted by Kiki | November 8, 2024, 7:22 amI used to frequent this place regularly when Nick owned it and always brought large groups of customers to enjoy the food, atmosphere, and service. ALWAYS TOP NOTCH! Unfortunately, the new management turned this place into dump! In addition to changing the menu and raising the prices, the service, the atmosphere and everything I loved about going there, went downhill – FAST! The new managers could care less about your feedback, which makes me care less about supporting anything they do. Too bad because it’s a great location, but not worth going back!
Posted by Allison | November 8, 2024, 8:57 amDon’t worry! It will no longer be under the management of David Burke, but back under Nick. I hope you’ll support his reopening!
Posted by Nicole | November 8, 2024, 11:11 amI live within walking distance. Since the new management came, I have only been there two times. We used to go at least once a week, but with the downgraded menu, and the prices raised, it was a hard pass.
Posted by Melissa Philbrook | November 8, 2024, 10:09 pmWe still have a $100 gift certificate for the Port city club and I got a couple months ago and we’ve been trying to use it. First of all one of our group had Covid and now for the last several weeks they’ve been renovating so I guess we’re out I don’t think the new owners are gonna, let us use that gift certificate and like someone said the food used to be really good there some I used to like a lot. But the last year or two the food went downhill they changed the menu and took off all the good stuff and we hadn’t gone there, but my daughter knew I like the place so she got a gift certificate
Posted by Bob | November 10, 2024, 4:57 pmI wonder if the new sign is readable from a distance? The words Wine and Grill seem to be a font style that is not clear.
Posted by Suzanne | November 11, 2024, 7:04 amI was thinking that it’s hard to read! Especially if you are driving , mabe bright lights on it.
Posted by Beth Briggs | November 12, 2024, 4:36 pm